It takes diligence, patience and creativity to track people who have lost touch and don’t have details about the person they are trying to locate.

We didn’t know the circumstances behind the story of how a recent caller had lost touch of her adult son, but we did know he was heavy on her mind. She insisted that even though she had observed someone who looked like him twice in the last week. This person was on a busy street and both times she attempted to catch up with him, but she lost him in the crowd.

Now she decided it was time to ask professionals to conduct a missing person search. It sounded like she felt it would be easy since she thought he was nearby and all she wanted was to know he was alive. So the International Investigators researcher asked for some information about him:

Complete name

Date of birth, location of birth

Social security number

Previous employers

Previous residential addresses

Names and contact information for friends and family members

Hobbies or interests he had

From lead to lead the researcher carried the thread forward in the missing person investigation. After some time, she discovered he had left Indiana and it was probably not him that his mother had seen on the street downtown. The researcher doggedly checked off the list of people with his name – or variation of his name – as she called number after number in this missing person search. Then she started tracking down his former friends, colleagues and even guys he had played basketball with in a league. Finally she got some information, but it wasn’t the kind of information an investigator wants to hear.

When a missing person search uncovers the subject is homeless, chances of tracking him down drop dramatically. And that’s where the creativity and persistence of International Investigator researchers seems to kick into high gear. She discovered that he had been a victim in a car accident in Florida, and, eventually, the researcher tracked him down to a homeless mission there. The shelter organizers acknowledged he had been there, but would not provide contact information. However, they were willing to deliver a message to him.

A message was prepared from the mother and forwarded to the shelter. He responded, but didn’t want to come home or meet with her. She understood and although it was obvious that it hurt, she learned he was alive.

Someday we might be called to find the missing heir once again, but we will have the success of the missing person investigation as a starting point – and that will make a big difference.